Impact marking device



June Z6,l 1951 v INVENTOR RB. L/O/l/VSO/V j BY ATTORNEY R. B. JOHNnSONIMPACT MARKING DEVICE Filed Nov. 24, 1947 aga@ Patented June 26, 19512,558,616 IMPACT MARKING DEVIC'E Reynold B. Johnson, Binghamton, N. Y.,assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, New `lork, N.Y., a corporation of New York Application November 24, 1947, Serial No.7s7`,752

1 Claim. l

This invention relates to an impact marking device for makingimpressions upon a card or other object. Among the objects of theinvention is to provide an unitary marking instrument having provisionsfor the making of impressions of symbols representative of differentnumbers which may be read by a sensing instrument or needle.

Another object of the invention is to provide a manually operable impactmarking device having provision for the selection of any one of aplurality of dies which are representative of different characters orsymbols and whereby any selected symbol may be impressed upon a card orother object by the application of force to the device.

Other objects and uses of the invention will appear from a detaildescription of the same which constitutes features of construction andcombinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side view of a device embodying the principle of the presentinvention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the impact producing portion of thedevice taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail of the marking portion of the device;

Fig. 4 is a side view of the marking wheel i1- lustrated in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 illustrates a card which has been embossed by the use of thedevice; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged View illustrating the manner in which impressionsare made in the surface of a card.

The impact marking device of the present in- I vention has a movablehammer adapted Vto be subjected to the tension of a spring andautomatically released therefrom for delivering a blow onto an anvil inthe form of a plunger by which the force of impact is transmitted to aselected die of a marking device. The impact device I0 includes a casingcomprising a tubular member Il which is fastened to one end of a sleeveI 2, and a cap I3 which is adjustably attached to the other end of thesleeve l2. The adjustable cap I3 is in threaded engagement with sleevel2 so as to enable relative movement between the cap and the sleeve toadjust the initial tension in the power spring lli.

The tubular member il is bored to receive a plunger I5 which is adaptedto slide axially with respect to the tubular member. A flange Iii on theplunger determines the most outward posi- 2 tion of the plunger. Theplunger has a reduced portion Il which extends through a bushing I3. Thebushing I8 is in threaded engagement with the tubular member Il and isprovided with aV flange i9 which is seated against the inner end of thetubular member II as shown in Fig. 2. Intermediate the flange I6 of theplunger and the bushing I3 there is mounted a spring 2c which normallyholds the plunger in extended relationship With respect to the casing,but permits the sleeve member Il to more fully encompass the plungerwhen the spring 20 is compressed during use of the device.

Within the sleeve I2 there is mounted a laterally movable block orspacing member 2l which is bored at its center to provide for thepassage of the reduced portion Il of the plunger. The block 2| isnormally held by a spring 22 in such position as to maintain the edge ofits bore over a shoulder 23 at the inner end of the plunger l5, as shownin Fig. 2. Spring 22 is a cantilever spring and is secured at its fixedend to a hammer 2d by means of a screw 25.V The block 2| serves to spacethe hammer from the plunger so long as its under surface is inengagement with the shoulder 23 of the plunger.

'As force is applied between the casing and the plunger in opposition tothe action of the springs, the hammer, spacing block and plunger aremoved as a unit with respect to the casing. During such movement thepower spring I4 is compressed and energy is stored therein until a camsurface on the spacing block 2l comes into contact with the shoulder 2Band causes the spacing block to be displaced laterally and to becomelrelieved from engagement with the shoulder 23 of the plunger. Thereuponthe hammer 2li is released to the action of the power spring It and thestriking surface 21 thereof delivers a sharp blow to the anvil end 28 ofthe plunger.

The plunger I5 has secured to its lower end a marking device including asupport 29 for a marking Wheel 30. The support 29 has a stem SI which isthreaded for engagement with a threaded bore in the lower end of theplunger I5. The marking wheel 3l] is supported on a pin 32 which iscarried by a pair of arms 33 and all which extend from the support 29.Pin is disposed at right angles to the plunger and preferably in theplane of the axis of the plunger.

In the embodiment of the invention described the periphery of themarking wheel is provided with ten tangential surfaces, eachcorresponding to one ordinal of a series of ten ordinals,

to Wit: zero and 1 to 9, inclusive. One surface is left plain and isrepresentative of zero. The other nine surfaces bear symbols in the formof raised lines of dies with one line representing the digit 1 on onesurface, two lines representing the digit 2 on the next surface, threelines representing the digit 3 on the next sur-- face, four linesrepresenting the digit 4 on the next surface, ve lines representing thedigit "5 on the next surface, and so on, with the successive surfaceshaving lines in numbers corresponding to the respective digits. The rstline of each die is preferably disposed in a common diametrical plane ofthe marking wheel so as to afford a manner for gauging the alignment ofa series of impressions imparted by the die upon a card 36. in which therst row of digits each have the 9, 5, 1 and 5 symbols impressed in thesurface of the card and all of the symbols have the lines indicating thevalue of 1 in horizontal alignment.

Each of the dies representative of a givenordinal are selectable forplacement in die-impressing position by rotating the marking wheel 30.In order to justify the position of the selected die on the axis of theplunger I5, a spring-pressed pin 37 is provided which is adapted toengage any one of the series of holes 38 on the side of the markingwheel. Pin 31 is supported from support 29 by a spring 39 which isfastened to the support by a screw 40.

lower ends of the legs are preferably providedwith cushions 44 of rubberor other deformable material. The arrangement of the legs and thedisposition of the lower surfaces of the cushions are suchas to permitthe high portions of the dies to rest upon or be supported just abovethe card or other object upon which impressions are to be made.

When the device is properly positioned over a card an impression isproduced by the application of manual force to the casing for thepurpose of causing relative sliding movement between the casing and theassembly comprising the plunger I5, hammer 24 and the spacing block 2|until the block is disengaged from the plunger, whereupon the powerstored in the spring I4 is expended to drive the hammer against theanvil end of the plunger. The force of impact is transmitted directly tothe marking wheel and die. The force of impact causes the die to impressThis is illustrated in Fig. 5 Y

grooves 45, in number corresponding to the se- 4 lected die, into thesurface of the card in the manner illustrated in Fig. 6. The device isparticularly suited for making lineal impressions on the surface of acard which may be readily read by a sensing instrument, such as aneedle, upon ypassage over the card.

What is claimed is:

In an impact marking device, the combination comprising a casingcontaining an axially movable plunger and hammer, a spring compressiblewithin said casing and releasable for forcibly moving said hammer withrespect to said casing, means for releasing said hammer to the action ofsaid spring for delivering an impact blow to said plunger, embossingmeans comprising a rotatable Wheel mounted on a shaft and having itsaxis of rotation normal to the axis of said plunger, said wheel having aseries of dies spaced circumferentially about its periphery, meansfastened to said plunger for rigidly supporting said shaft from saidplunger, means cooperating with said last-named means and said wheel forholding said wheel in an adjusted position with respect to saidsupporting means and plunger, a bracket carried by said supportingmeans, said bracket having legs extending to a plane just below thelower die of said embossing wheel for providing resilient support forsaid marking device in a position perpendicular to a surface to bemarked with said lower die located slightly thereabove marked and towhich said legs extend.

REYNOLD B. JOHNSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Sept. 12, 1908

